Meta has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump after the company suspended his accounts following the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, according to sources familiar with the situation. This settlement marks another instance of a major corporation settling legal disputes with Trump, who has previously threatened retaliation against his critics and competitors. The agreement comes as Meta and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, seek to build a relationship with the new Trump administration.
Sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, revealed that $22 million of the settlement will be allocated to the nonprofit that will establish Trump’s future presidential library, while the remaining funds will cover legal fees and other litigants. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on this settlement.
In November, Zuckerberg met with Trump at his private club in Florida to discuss mending their relationship, a move echoed by other tech and business leaders. During their dinner, Trump raised the issue of the litigation and proposed finding a resolution, which led to two months of negotiations. Additionally, Meta contributed $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, and Zuckerberg was among several billionaires who received prime seating at Trump’s inauguration.
Before Trump’s inauguration, Meta announced it would cease fact-checking on its platform, a long-standing goal of Trump and his supporters. Trump initiated the lawsuit months after leaving office, accusing social media companies of “illegal, shameful censorship of the American people.”
While Twitter, Facebook, and Google are private entities that require users to agree to their terms of service, Trump and some politicians argue that these platforms have misused their protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and should lose their immunity or have it limited. The Meta settlement follows ABC News’ recent agreement to pay $15 million to Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit related to inaccurate statements made by anchor George Stephanopoulos.
